The Curtiss XP-46 was a 1940s American

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

. It was a development of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation in an effort to introduce the best features found in European fighter aircraft in 1939 into a fighter aircraft which could succeed the

Curtiss P-40 The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter-bomber that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry ...

, then in production.

Design and development

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

(USAAC) specification based upon a Curtiss proposal was the basis for an order placed in September 1939 for the XP-46. The requirements called for a single-engine, low-wing aircraft, slightly smaller than the P-40, and with a wide-track, inward-retracting landing gear. The selected powerplant was a 1,150 hp (858 kW)

Allison V-1710 The Allison V-1710 aircraft engine designed and produced by the Allison Engine Company was the most common United States, US-developed V12 engine, V-12 Internal combustion engine cooling, liquid-cooled engine in service during World War II. Ve ...

-39 V-12 engine. The planned armament included two .50 in (12.7 mm) synchronized machine guns in the forward fuselage and provisions for eight .30 in (7.62 mm) wing-mounted guns. The USAAC later added requirements for

self-sealing fuel tank A self-sealing fuel tank (SSFT) is a type of fuel tank, typically used in aircraft fuel tanks or fuel bladders, that prevents them from leaking fuel and igniting after being damaged. Typical self-sealing tanks have layers of rubber and reinfor ...

s and 65 lb (29 kg) of armor, the weights of which adversely affected performance.

Testing

In 1940 the

British Purchasing Commission The British Purchasing Commission was a United Kingdom organisation of the Second World War. Also known at some time as the "Anglo-French Purchasing Board", it was based in New York City, where it arranged the production and purchase of armaments fr ...

placed an order for the P-46 as a replacement for the P-40,Engel, Leonard
"Half of Everything: An American's Survey of Orders Placed in the United States."
''Flight'', 5 December 1940, p. 472. the British service name 'Kittyhawk' was allocated by the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

in anticipation of receiving the aircraft. However, the USAAC asked Curtiss in July 1940 – while the XP-46 prototypes were under construction – to prioritize an upgraded P-40, featuring the engine intended for the XP-46. This would also avoid disruptions to the production line caused by any switch to a new airframe. The British order for the P-46 was later cancelled, and the 'Kittyhawk' name subsequently applied to the upgraded P-40. Two prototypes, designated XP-46A, were nevertheless delivered to the USAAC; the first flight occurred on 15 February 1941. The type's performance during trials was found to be inferior to the then-contemporary P-40D. As the P-46 offered no significant improvement on the P-40, the program was cancelled. A myth claims that work on the XP-46 was the basis of the North American NA-73X – the prototype P-51 Mustang. While

North American Aviation North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F- ...

(NAA) purchased technical aerodynamic data on the P-40 and XP-46 from Curtiss for $56,000, and there are certain design similarities in the radiator/oil-cooler configuration of the two types, North American had already made significant progress on its design.Baugher, Joe
"North American NA-73."
''USAAC/USAAF/USAF Fighter and Pursuit Aircraft'', 29 August 1999. Retrieved: 10 August 2010.

Specifications (Curtiss XP-46A)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Berliner, Don. ''Surviving Fighter Aircraft of World War Two: Fighters''. London: Pen & Sword Aviation, 2011. . * Bowers, Peter M. ''Curtiss Aircraft, 1907-1947''. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1979. . * Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Four: Fighters''. London: MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1961 (Sixth impression 1969). . * Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. ''WW2 Aircraft Fact Files: US Army Air Force Fighters, Part 1''. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1977. .

External links

Curtiss XP-46
{{Curtiss aircraft Curtiss P-46 P-46 Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1941 Aircraft with retractable conventional landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft